Railway-car-control apparatus.



J. B. ATWOOD.

RAILWAY GAR CONTROL APPARATUS. APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 16. 1906.

' 91 6,405. Patented Mar. 30, 1909.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16, 1900.

Patented Mar. 30, 1909.

2 SHEBTS-SHEET 2.

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N\ W: .Er w w Wit JOHN BAIRD ATWOOD, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-CAB-CONTROL APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

Patented March 30, 1909.

Application filed August 16, 1905. Serial No. 330,917.

cu. whom 'it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN BAIRI) Arwoon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Allegheny, in the State of Pennsylvania, have inventedcertain new and useful Tm provements in Railway-Car-Control Apparatus,of which the following is a specificaof a moving car to stop it on thetrack at a predetermined point, said brake being regulable; to provide aseries of automatic track brakes capable of manipulation from a distanceand of adjustment in power; to provide improved brake operatingmechanism, and to generally improve and cheapen the constructionof trackbrakes. These ob jects and other advantages to appear hereinafter. areattained by the structures illustrated in one form in the accompanyingdrawings.

Figure l is a plan and Fig. 2 a side elevation, of the tracks of arailway switch yard. Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the track brakes.Fig. 4 is a cross section on the line- (4) in Fig. 8, showing the carwheels in place in the brake. Fig. 5 is a section on line (5) in Fig. 4.Fig. 6 is a sketch showing a modified means of operating the brakes.Fig. 7 is a detail section of the shaft of the actuating motor in Fig.3.

.It is customary in railway practice to provide a switch yard having asummit of elevation, from which branch out the several tracks forshifting cars and making 'up trains, the switches being on an incline sothat the cars may be moved by gravity and run down any switch trackdesired, to its proper place. It has been customary to stop the singlecars at the positions desired by means of hand brakes, which isexpensive andhas various evident dangers and disadvantages. My apparatusprovides for automatic control and stoppage of such cars, and theoperation of all is accomplished from a distant central observationtower. Thus, at various points on each of the branch tracks 9, 9, areplaced pairs of stationary brakes 8, 8. These are all' operated,preferably, by electrical means,from a centrally located observationto'- .1 ii. The preferred form of this brake in detail, as shown inFigs. 3, 4-, and .3, comprises next .to each rail 9. presser bars 10which are mounted to slide on guide plates 11. bolted to a board 12resting upon the tie l3 inside the rails, moving to and from the raiLandopposite to each other. Bar 10 is connected by bolts l-i and springs 15to the supplementary bar 16, which also slides similarly. so as to varythe pressure on the springs 15 and move pro r bar 10. or vary thedistance between these two bars. .l n order to accomplish this movementI preferably provide a series 0?" togglelcvcrs 17 which are operated bycon tral rod 15 by any convenient means. l

have shown them in this instanccas oper ated by means of hell cranklever 19 and a threaded rod 20 which is in turn rcciprooatcd by a motor21 provided witha revolving nut threaded so as to operate on rod 20. Themotor is energized by wires 23 from the central tower station 9-1, whereare provided proper switches to reverse the motor and also to turn it atwhatever speed may be desired.

Normally the pressure bar 10 Stands at proper distance from the rail 9,to clear the inside of the car whecl'zfi. The springs 15 allow the barto yield when the bar is moved against the wheel. and the amount ofpressure thus induced on the wheels depends upon the position of thesupplementary bar 16; the fixed position, as well as the movement oithis bar is regulated by the motor as before described. Thus when thecar reaches the spot at which it is desired to stop it the. presser bar1.0 is shoved against the car wheels with whatever force is necessary toeither slow it up or to stop it. as may be desired. The construction ofthe operating screw is such that thd brake can not. itself move themotor, and consequently is locked in any position against movement bythe brake. The brake is released by reversing motor 21.. and itspressure on the wheel is also regulated by the turning of the motorshaft and actuating nut 22 (Fig. 7). The brake bars taking effect uponthe inside of the wheels with equal pressure do not affect the trackalinement, and they should engage the wheel a little above the top levelof the rail, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 so as to bc-in contact with arapidly moving part of the wheel.

lVhen desired a series of the brakes 8 may 4' be laced throuph some ofwhich. tlie wheels l P 7 as may pass under pressure, and thus graduallybe brought to stand. The tracks t being on an incline any 0: l may bereleased from position in one brake'and allowed to run down farther bygravity and be stopped again at another point, by another brake.

In Fig. 6 is shown a slightly modified means of operating the actuatorrod 18 which may be similar to any of the usual operating means forswitches, but preferably means are provided so that the brake bar islocked in any position in which As here shown the bar 26 has a rack 27which is encased b a worm wheel 28 to reciprocate it, and this may beturned by a sprocket and chain from the wheel 30 in the central tower.Otherwise simple levers may be used and by this means the op erator mayfeel the etlort of the first wheels of the truck in the brake and mayregulate the pressure at will.

The various advantages these devices Will readily occur those familirwith the art.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use; what I claimas new and desire to secure by ilett rs Patent, is the following:

l. The combination. with railway track of sliding brake-bars locatednear the rails to engage car wheels thereon, and means to move and lockthe bar in place, said means being operated from a distance,substantially as described.

2. In a railway traclr brake the combination with a pair of slidingbrake bars adapted to engage car whee's on the track, of pair ofsupplementary slidina' bars attached to the first bars by spring andmeans to move the supplementary oars and vary the pressure on saidsprings operated from a distant observation point.

3.1%. track brake comp presser bars mounted to s1v pair of the tree,

it is placed. 7

sienna bars, a. d locking means to fix the latter in.

any position, substantially as described.

l. The combination. with a railway track,

of a presser bar operable upon car wheels on the track, actuating linksand-a thrust rod to more said pres are bar, and fixed reversible motorhaving a revolving member thread ed on said thrust rod, whereby theoresser bar may be moved by electric connections from a distance and belocked in place.

The combination with brake bar, of an actuating bar attached thereto,and means to reciprocate the actuating bar and lcck it in any positionplaced, substantially as described. i 6. The combination with a seriesof inclined railway switches, of sets of track brakes on the switchesand electric means to operate and lock all the switches from adistantcentral station, substantially as describe l. I 7. Thecombination with a series of inclined railway switches, of track brakeson the several switches, a central station and means operating from thecentral station to' close and lock any or all'of the brakes from adistance. 1

8. The combination with an inclined yard having a series of branchtracks, of a plurality of track brakes on each of the several branchesand means to operate all the brakes from a central operating tower,substantially f p as described.

9. The combination. with a track brake ofelectric means to operate itand lock it in closed position.

In witness whereof I have hereunder presence of the two"

